Make It Without You
by dark-charmer.xo
Summary: "Charlotte felt her stomach turn at the thought. She had always pictured his hands on her body, his lips to hers but never with Aubrey..." Charlotte Matthews always heard about how one choice could change everything. She never pictured that it would happen to her. Especially when it wasn't her choice that made things change. ONE SHOT. SS/OC


**Dark - charmer . xo : ** Well hello everyone! So I have had this idea for awhile now and started writing this copy of the idea about a month or so ago. This is taking place a few years after James and Lily Potter have been killed. It's a one shot with potential for a continuation but don't hold your breath. Though I do have some ideas for continuing it (there is a few subtle hints I put in just in case) so you never know. Anyways enjoy :)

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><p>"So I am going to pass."<p>

She never truly expected those words to change things. Before she looked up from her book she thought that the only way it was possible is if her friend had did an extra essay to make up for the lack of class knowledge. She brought her dark eyes up and looked deep into her friend's light blue eyes. Something was off.

"Aubrey that's awesome." She was truly happy for her friend despite the small voice in her mind, screaming at her. "Were you up writing an essay all night? Is that why you were gone?"

The golden haired girl threw her head back and laughed. She reached over and patted the brunette on the head gently. "Oh Charlotte you think I would waste my time on an essay like that? I have other talents that I put to use." She winked.

Charlotte's heart began to race. "What do you mean?" She wanted to add that she knew their professor wouldn't let Aubrey pass by simply pulling bat wings off. She would have had to prove her knowledge for Professor Snape to even consider letting her graduate. Especially when it came to Aubrey. He saw her caring about no one, other than herself; she didn't care for the rules and had little respect for most. He was annoyed by her, everyone knew it, even Aubrey.

"Charlotte I forgot how stupid you are sometimes." Aubrey sat beside her friend and wrapped one arm around her shoulder. "It's cute really."

When Charlotte didn't say anything Aubrey rolled her eyes and continued.

"I seduced him." A dark look crossed her eyes as she said it. "It was quite easy. He's not too bad you know."

Charlotte could feel her blood run cold and her stomach sink. "You had…with Professor Snape?"

"That's what I mean by seduced." Aubrey laughed. "He said he would pass me too, as long as I didn't tell. I figured my secret was safe with you. You won't tell anyone will you Charlotte?"

Charlotte could only give a small nod. Even when Aubrey jumped up and said they should head to dinner, she couldn't find many words.

"I will be down in a bit." Charlotte managed to get out, holding up the book she had been reading.

"You and your books! Alright alright I will see you in a little while. Don't come too late though or else you won't get anything!"

Charlotte listened to Aubrey's footsteps down the stairs and the door to the common room slam shut. She felt the tears begin to form in her eyes and tried her best not to let out a wail; the book she had been holding fell to the ground and she lost her place.

'She didn't know,' Charlotte told herself. 'How could she know?'

But inside, she knew if Aubrey would have looked deep enough, she could have figured it out.

But that wasn't who Aubrey was. Aubrey didn't look for what other people were feeling, she didn't even really look at what she was truly feeling. Charlotte kept telling herself that she didn't need to be upset, there was nothing she could do. Neither of them had an obligation to her feelings.

Despite all of that, Charlotte began to shake at the thought of her friend and professor while the tears continued to fall from her eyes.

'Come on pull yourself together.' Her inner voice called out. 'Someone is going to come and find you here.'

Charlotte didn't want to move but gathered the strength of wipe the tears away and head down to the Great Hall to find her friend.

* * *

><p>"Took you long enough." Aubrey was sitting by herself, surprisingly.<p>

"Sorry the chapter went longer than I thought."

Aubrey grinned and grabbed a plate and began to put food on it for Charlotte. She loaded it with a bit of everything even though Charlotte couldn't eat that much even if she wanted too. Aubrey leaned over, closer to Charlotte so no one would hear them talking.

"I thought you were upset for some reason."

"Upset?" Charlotte's voice squeaked. She cleared her throat. "Why would I be upset?"

"Snape, he's one of your favorite teachers. You didn't expect him to do something like that. You have to remember one thing Charlotte, every teacher here would find it extremely hot to sleep with a student. It's like a taboo you know? Even your favorite professor. Trust me he loved it."

Charlotte fought the mental pictures away and forced herself to smile. She knew Aubrey was trying to help though she was making it worse. "I know."

Aubrey smiled and patted her head. "I knew you would. Don't worry about your marks, he won't make my grade higher than yours. You will still be his favorite….well at least I think." she winked.

Charlotte forced out a small laugh. Aubrey looked like she was about to add something else when her eyes quickly looked passed Charlotte and a snake like grin came on her face. "Oh hello Professor." Charlotte turned her body, already knowing who it was.

Snape had stopped by them at Aubrey's voice and locked eyes with Charlotte. She stared at him for a minute before turning away, unable to look at him without thinking of him and Aubrey together. Charlotte wasn't sure when he walked away but figured he had when Aubrey leaned over again.

"Geez Charlotte you're really taking this to heart?"

Charlotte began to eat, not having the mental strength to answer. If Aubrey only knew how true that statement was.

Charlotte sat in her front row spot in potions class (all the other seats had been full and to switch now would make people question) and avoided Snape's eye; she felt him watching her.

He assigned them to do a potions, not a complicated one at least for Charlotte. Aubrey on the other hand was having a bit more trouble, as per usual. It was in their second year that Snape, decided it was best to keep the pair separate; Charlotte always ended up helping Aubrey more than focusing on her own potion which, resulted in Charlotte almost failing her first year. But due to her essays always being near perfect, her gave her a chance and allowed her to make up her mark.

Not like Aubrey did of course.

Charlotte felt her stomach turn at the thought. She had always pictured his hands on her body, his lips to hers but never with Aubrey. He had always disliked Aubrey the most out of all the students in their class (from talking with others, apparently in their year) and she couldn't stand him. But in order to graduate and get the job she wanted Aubrey needed to pass potions. She only managed to scrape by because Charlotte would always practically write her essays for her. She sometimes felt as if Aubrey was cheating but, it was always hard to say no to her.

When Snape told them both that Aubrey was to write her own papers this year, it came as a relief to Charlotte more than anything. The course load she had taken on was heavy; she had high hopes to become a healer and had to have amazing grades in order to be considered in most positions. With Aubrey's potions work on top of that all it felt like double to work.

Charlotte had told her professor about her heavy course load one night, while she helped him with a potion. He frequently asked her to help him ever since she met with Professor Flitwick to talk about where she would like to go with her education. Professor Dumbledore had agreed that she would find it more useful to have more hands on work.

When she told him about Aubrey, she really hadn't meant too. It just came out during one of their normal conversations. Charlotte was a little stress about the workload and shared it with him.

Strangely enough they had become almost, dare she say, domestic in their routine. She would help him Friday and Saturday nights (sometimes she would be there till three am helping) where they would casually talk about their weeks, how things were. Charlotte was usual quiet, even around Aubrey she found it hard to talk. With him, she felt comfortable to talk freely. She trusted him more than anyone else and she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like that at first of course; the first few weeks, she was silent mostly, following his written instructions

Then one week as he was grading papers (it was apparently a rough one, as she observed him use red ink more than black) while Charlotte was working on a potion. He slammed his fist on his desk causing her to jump. They locked eyes for a moment until she got the courage to speak. Well at least try too.

"Er...professor…" her voice was meek but it seem to set him off on a rant.

"What kinds of idiots I am teaching? Do they even realize that if they brewed this potion incorrectly they would kill someone?" She put down what she was holding and walked over as he held out the paper to her. She took it from him and read it over briefly (an essay about brewing Polyjuice Potion) until she found the part where the red ink stopped.

Charlotte wasn't sure if he had meant for her to find it funny. But she couldn't stopped herself from laughing out loud. Then she realized he was laughing too. When they stopped, Charlotte went back to her potion and he went back to grading. But then next week, the small talk began and had continued for two years more. Though sometimes, they shared more than small talk.

It had been close to the end of her sixth year and summer vacation would be starting soon. Snape was allowing Charlotte to pick out some of his personal books to read over the summer, to help her prepare for her final year. They called each other by their first names (only in private of course) which, made her feel closer to him.

"Won't you be too busy spending time with your family to read all of these?" He asked as she pulled out her fifth book from his shelf. They had never really talked about family before.

Charlotte shook her head. "I don't really have much of a family. I stay at my great aunt's place but she takes off every summer since I started attending Hogwarts. So it's really just me alone all summer. Of course sometimes I visit Aubrey."

She could feel him sneer at Aubrey's name behind her for a moment before pressing on. "You aren't on good terms with your parents?"

"Well," Charlotte began. "It's hard to be on good terms with them when they are dead."

She knew he was at a lost for words when he didn't respond to her comment so she turned, with her arm full of books and walked over to him. She set them down on his office desk and smiled at him softly. "It happened a long time ago when I was six. They are dead and that's just something I have learned to live with."

He nodded, still remaining silent. She changed to subject.

"Can I write to you this summer?" he looked at her curiously and she felt her cheeks turn pink. "I mean...if I have any questions about the books!"

He smiled at her and looked amused. "Yes that would be fine."

They wrote to each other throughout the summer. There was never anything inappropriate when they talk or wrote so she never thought there was anything wrong with it. Lots of students kept in contact with their professors (though most would probably not stay in contact with Snape) even ten years after they left school.

She always knew she had a small crush on her professor but tried to not let it bug her. She was a student and he was a professor. It could never happen while they were in school, no matter how strong her feelings were, she wouldn't risk his job. Plus she had only just turned eighteen a little way into her last year.

So she let herself dream of him beside her and let the butterflies flutter in her stomach when he spoke to her.

But now it was different. Now she didn't want to feel those butterflies anymore and she didn't want to have dreams about him. She was….

She was in pain.

Coming back to reality, Charlotte realized she had cut her finger while chopping something. She had been so lost in her daydream, she didn't move her finger in time. It wasn't a deep cut but enough to draw blood. Normally she would have walked up to Snape, showed him the cut and went to grab some bandage but she didn't want to talk to him.

The blood began to drip onto the floor and she realized she had no choice. She slowly walked to his desk and waited for him to acknowledge her. When he looked up and asked her what was wrong. She showed him her finger.

"I cut myself sir." she hadn't meant for her voice to sound so cold.

He stared at her for a minute, almost as if looking at her that way would make everything more clear for him. He nodded to her and looked back down at his paper; she knew where he kept extra bandages from other students hurting themselves.

She wrapped her finger quickly and went back to her potion, finishing it as quickly as she could. There were a few students done before her (due to her injury) and had already left. She looked over at Aubrey who was throwing handfuls of random things into her potion; she didn't have to worry about her mark so she had no reason to care.

Charlotte bottled her potion, placed it in the proper spot, cleaned up and left the class without a word. Usually she would smile at him to say goodbye but couldn't bring herself to do it.

She wasn't sure how she would handle tonight; it was Friday and she was suppose to meet him tonight.

It would be easier to not show up but a part of her still wanted to see him, to learn from him. She went to her last two classes, ate dinner and then headed up to her room. Her normal Friday routine that only changed once a year. Charlotte tried to force herself to get ready to go but found herself stuck laying on her bed, looking at the ceiling.

"Hey!" Aubrey's voice rang through the air. Charlotte didn't turn her head as she felt Aubrey's weight push down on her bed. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be gone to your private lessons or whatever?"

"I'm not feeling the greatest."

Aubrey laid down beside her and rested her head on Charlotte's shoulder. "You need to stop worrying about this Snape thing. It happened. I know you thought he was a good guy or whatever. But all men think about one thing. Even if they pretend they are better than that they aren't."

Charlotte looked at her. "That's not what this is about."

Aubrey smile seemed genuine but for some reason sent shivers down her spine. "Oh trust me I know. I just want my best friend back to the way she was before. I don't know what I would do if you were like this all the time."

Charlotte turned back to the ceiling while Aubrey sighed and stood up. "Look you have another month before we leave Hogwarts for good. Please just try and act normal for me? Skip tonight and go tomorrow to your lessons. I did all this work and I can't have Snape fail me anyways. Please Charlotte? For me?"

She wanted to say no to her but knew she couldn't, not to Aubrey. Aubrey had befriended her when no one else would, gave her countless makeovers and even tried to find her dates. She had made her life at Hogwarts easier than it could have been.

"Alright I will go tomorrow."

"You're the best."

Charlotte listened to her walk away and found herself staring at the ceiling until she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The next day she managed to avoid meeting his eye at all the meals in the Great Hall even though she was dying to turn and meet his stare. She rarely missed a lesson with him and even when she did, Charlotte made sure to always let him know however she could.<p>

She wanted to avoid him for the rest of her days at Hogwarts but she knew it wouldn't happened. She had made a promise to Aubrey and wouldn't go back on her word even though it caused her so much pain to do so. Not that anyone besides Aubrey noticed; rarely someone noticed Charlotte at this school. The only two she felt like she could rely on had betrayed her.

The thought tugged at her heart strings. No Aubrey hadn't known and neither did he. This was her fault for letting her feelings get in the way. She had a plan, right after her parents died. She would stay focus and make them proud.

'Perhaps that's the real reason you are going through with this for Aubrey,' she thought to herself. 'You know inside that you were stupid enough to get close.'

She mentally kicked herself and looked over at Aubrey who was laughing along with some of her other friends. She didn't blame her professor for turning Aubrey down, not in the least. To put the two side by side, the choice was easy; Aubrey was tall with clear, smooth skin and soft looking blond hair. Her blue eyes sparkled with delight and her lips always seemed to be kissable to the boys. Her stomach was flat, her legs were long and her chest was a medium size. 'A perfect size', Charlotte had heard Aubrey replay what the boys had said to her after spending the night with them.

Charlotte thought of her own reflection; she was short with dark brown hair that always seem to just hang down to her chest. Her eyes just seemed like an odd shape and were a flat brown color.. She had dealt with mild acne growing up but now her skin was clear but not smooth like Aubrey's was and when she hit puberty her hips and chest grew wider. Her stomach wasn't as flat as she hoped it to be, mostly from the fact that she usually sat around reading books in the summer and snacking on junk food.

'How could I ever compete with her?' the thoughts still circled her mind right up till the time where she was heading down to Snape's classroom. Usually she tried to dress nicer when she was seeing him but settled for a simple pair of jeans and a plain black long sleeved shirt that was a little too big for her.

She reached up to knock on the door but stopped herself for a moment, fist inches away from the door.

'You need to do this,' she reminded herself. 'For Aubrey.'

She let her fist connect with the door and heard his voice telling her to enter. She walked in to see him sitting at his desk, not looking up at her even as she shut the door and stood in front of his desk. He left her standing there for a few moments and when he finally looked up she could tell he was angry with her. She had seen that look before but never directed at her.

Charlotte didn't know what the feel; on one hand she wanted to cry at his anger towards her and on the other hand she knew he had no right to be angry with her and that seemed to boil her blood.

"I wasn't sure if I should have even waited for you tonight." he put his quill down and laced his fingers together. "Since you wasted my precious time last night. Perhaps you don't take this privilege very seriously Miss Matthews."

Miss Matthews. It felt like a slap in the face. He hadn't called her that while they were in private for ages. She looked away from his eyes unsure what hers would be saying to him right now. She had rarely gotten angry at anything, Aubrey's cluelessness, her parent's death, her clear imperfections but it felt like this was going to push her over the edge.

"Shall I go then Professor Snape? I'm sure you have better things to do." She bit down on her tongue to stop herself from saying more. Her tone was cold, just as she talked to him in class. She turned to walk away but he had managed to get up and grab her arm.

"Is that what you want to do?" He snapped back. "You want to throw away useful time that will only benefit you in the future because of your immaturity?"

Charlotte felt the cloud of anger begin to disappear at his words. Was she really being immature?

'Of course you are. That's why you should calm down and suck it up. Just like Aubrey said.'

"Your right Professor. I shouldn't be acting this way." he let go of her arm as his fury began to die down as well. "I'm sorry I wasted your time."

It was easier this way. Just pretending like there was nothing to be angry about.

He cleared his throat. "Let's begin then."

It was the hardest four hours that Charlotte ever remembered having; there was an awkwardness that filled the air. They didn't talk about anything other than the potion, they didn't even try.

"Good night professor." Charlotte knew he wanted her to say something more but she didn't. She shut the door behind her before he had a chance to try and stop her.

She made her way down the hall but felt her feet stop; she leaned against the wall and felt something wet run down her cheek. She was crying, probably from the moment she was away from his sight.

It felt as her heart was ripping apart slowly. She wanted to scream, pull her hair out, anything to stop the pain.

"Keep walking." she whispered to herself through the tears. "Keep going."

* * *

><p>Two weeks were left before Hogwarts would be sending students home for the summer, some would more than likely never see its walls again.<p>

Severus Snape watched from his seat, the dark haired girl that plagued his mind more so than ever. She ate slowly, pushing her hair away from one side of her face and seemed almost lost in her own mind despite the other students talking around her.

He tried to find a reason not to want her; they were not far off in age (she had turned eighteen while he was nearing twenty five), they shared common interest while still having their separate likes. He could talk to her, they made each other smile and he was insanely attracted to her. He played the scenario through his mind when she left Hogwarts for good as his student. He could go to her then and they could create something beautiful.

These past few weeks though, she had changed, the way she was now, wasn't the Charlotte he had been used to in her seven years of school. This change had lined up almost perfectly with another incident that had taken place. One he barely remembered but knew it had happened. His gaze shifted to the loud blond sitting beside her, Aubrey Andrews, the one who had started all of these problems.

It was a Saturday night, a little while after Charlotte had left him. He had poured himself a few drinks, trying to stop the thoughts that circled his mind every time he saw her. Though at that point, it was even when she wasn't around. Her smile, her laugh, whenever she spoke his name- it sent shivers down his spine. He hadn't felt this way since when Lily was still alive. That was only years ago but still, he felt as if Charlotte could make him love once again.

A knock at the door made his heart stop. He put his drink down and got to it as quickly as possible. At the door was Charlotte, but Aubrey dressed in barely any clothing. His mind was slightly foggy but not enough to know what it would look like to someone walking by. He grabbed her arm and yanked her in.

"What are you doing here at this time Miss Andrews?"

She walked over to where he had been sitting and picked up his drink. "Professor are you drinking? Mind if I take a sip?" she raised it to her lips and he sped over and knocked the glass from her hands.

She grinned wickedly and used her wand to repair the glass..

"As surprising as it is to know that you can manage a simple spell, you need to leave."

He hadn't noticed her pouring another drink but she held the full glass up to him innocently. He grabbed it and took a mouthful to humor her.

"Well I need to pass potions." She said calmly.

He snorted at her comment. That wasn't something that surprised him or anyone in the school. He took another small sip of his drink due trying to keep himself from insulting her more. He just wanted her to go.

"Well I would normally suggest submitting an essay but then I know it wouldn't be you who is writing it." he sneered.

"That's why I am here." She walked closer to him and got a strange look on her face. "I want to do some personal extra credit."

He began to laugh. Not just on how absurd the idea was to him and the fact that he would never consider it in a million year but due to the irony of it all. He was practically in love with her best friend and she comes to his door wanting to sleep with him to pass the class.

Her touch made him flinch. He wasn't laughing anymore. She really thought she could make this happen.

"Get out." he hissed.

She still had the same look in her eyes but her evil grin had returned. "Fine I will make you a deal. Finish your drink, tell me to get out again and I will go."

He knew he shouldn't trust her but he would do anything to have her gone. He finished the rest of his drink and went to tell her to leave again. That's when he felt it. He had trouble grasping words; they would appear in front of him and float away as soon as he grabbed them.

"So two did do the trick." she placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "Good thing I didn't use three."

"You...drugged….me…." he was slurring slightly and found it hard to stand up. She had somehow slipped something into his drink while making it. He tried to mentally kick himself but even that seemed impossible at the moment.

She laughed loudly and flicked her wand. He thought he heard the door lock but the second spell she casted was unclear. "Well of course I did. How else am I suppose to pass? Now where is the bed professor?"

He didn't want to tell her but all he wanted to do was lay down. He had forgotten who he was dealing with and why she was here. All he could figure out was that she was here and helping him to bed. She dragged him to his sleeping quarters and after that, the rest seemed to be a blur. He was still hazy but things were clearer as she was pulling her shorts back on.

"So professor you will make sure I pass then?"

He nodded, feeling helpless against her at this point.

"You better or then everyone will know about this, even Charlotte." she looked proud of herself and chuckled. "Actually she is the first one I will tell."

He didn't understand why she would tell Charlotte first but he didn't question it.

She was gone before he could ask anything else. The next time he saw Aubrey, she was sitting by herself at the table in the Great Hall which, was strange for her as she usually had someone (mainly Charlotte) with her. He tried to pay her no attention but was caught off guard when the dark haired beauty sat next to her. Her face, paler than when he had saw her last night and her eyes looked sad.

He watched her force a smile as Aubrey said something to her. His curiosity got the better of him as he made it so he had to walk past the two girls. Aubrey was the first to acknowledge him and seeing her made him feel sick. He didn't realize he would feel even sicker looking at Charlotte.

She looked like she had been crying but also like she wanted to slap him in the face. She turned away without saying anything to him. That's when he knew something was wrong. He kept telling himself that it was something else he had done, that Aubrey wouldn't have said anything to anyone.

But then in class she was clearly uncomfortable speaking with him and then she skipped their Friday session together. He had waited for her to show up until close to midnight. When she showed up Saturday he was angry more with himself than her but he lashed out. She was just as angry with him clearly wanting to say more than she did.

But she didn't say anything more and neither did he. They went back to a routine they hadn't done in years to the point where it felt like he wasn't even with her anymore. It had been two painful weeks like this. She was distant from him and didn't seem like she gave a damn about his existence.

He didn't realize how wrong he was until one night, after their private lesson, he heard her sniffling while walking out the door. He slowly followed after her, having now perfecting how to move silently through Hogwarts halls.

She was crying, he was sure of it, a sob that sent needles straight through his heart. She stopped a little ways from his classroom and sank down to the floor with her back against the wall.

"Two more weeks Charlotte." she was trying to comfort herself but it wasn't working as she began to cry harder. "I just want this over with."

He wanted to hold her and tell her it was okay even though he was clearly the source of her pain.

She jumped up and wiped her face, hearing steps comings towards her.

"Hey Char, I was worried about you. You okay?" Aubrey's voice was caring but he knew she saw the tears.

"Yeah just a little tired." Charlotte's lie came quickly.

Aubrey looked up for a moment and their eyes met. She knew he was there but choose not to say anything.

"Come on, let's get upstairs."

He went back to his own rooms at that point having a feeling that Aubrey would show up at his door again, this time for a different reason. He wasn't wrong, the knock came only an hour later.

"Professor." she glided in and he shut the door. She crossed her arms and stood in the middle of the room. They looked at each other silently for a few moments before he spoke.

"What did you say to her?"

They both know the her they were talking about.

"I told her of course. That we had sex."

He reached out and grabbed her wrist tightly. "Why in gods name would you…?"

"Now you two can cut the puppy love crap. I don't need Charlotte to be distracted when we leave here. We have a life planned and you were going to ruin that for us."

"How would I do that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Charlotte may be stupid but you're not. You've been in love with her since last year. Anyone who bothered to watch you two closely enough can see it. Not only that I know Charlotte. I can tell how much she cares about you, even though she hasn't said it. She would drop everything for you. Now I've made things right."

He wanted to smack her. This was her best friend and she had intentionally gone out of her way to hurt her. As if to read his mind, she continued.

"I don't have anyone who will take care of me like Charlotte does. I need her more than you ever could. Now she hates you. You can't ruin anything for me"

He let go of her wrist. "How is she going to feel about you knowing that you did this to her?"

Aubrey shrugged and put on an innocent voice. "What? Charlotte you're in love with Professor Snape? Why didn't you tell me?" she shook her head, her normal voice returning. "I'm the clueless, reckless friend who had no idea she even did anything wrong."

She headed towards the door but stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "Go on living your pointless life and leave Charlotte alone." .

"It's not your choice to make."

Aubrey turned away from him. "You're right it isn't. But I think the choice has already been made and not by me. Don't you think Charlotte would have said something to you if she wanted it to be better?"

He didn't know what else to say. She was right.

"That's what I thought. Oh and I still expect my passing grade or else everyone knows. Goodnight professor."

She left, leaving him to his thoughts. He wasn't sure exactly what to think at this moment. He had always known what Aubrey was like but didn't know that her need for Charlotte went to this extend. The girl had went out of her way to ruin any kind of relationship her friend had and apparently the relationship they had made Aubrey on edge.

He thought back to what she had said and realized that something that had been bugging him for what felt like forever had been confirmed. Charlotte cared about him just as much as he cared about her.

Now he had gone and messed that up.

He didn't see there being many choices; Charlotte clearly had made up her mind and didn't want anything to do with him. If he even tried to tell her what Aubrey had said to him, he was sure that she would be in Dumbledore's office quicker than you could say 'potions' probably adding a few of her own personal details to the story.

No he really didn't have any options now.

This was the end of any hope he had to be happy with her.

* * *

><p>Charlotte watched out the window as Hogwarts began to pull out of sight; this was it. She had made it. Surprisingly enough, it hadn;t been as bad as she expected. Snape had informed her that he no longer needed her assistance for the last few weeks of school much to Charlotte's relief. She had been having a more difficult time keeping her composure around him.<p>

"Did you ever found out who gave that to you anyways?"

Charlotte turned to Aubrey who was pointing at the book that lay open in Charlotte's lap. It had arrived on the last breakfast they had at Hogwarts, wrapped in brown paper with a tag that only indicted that it was in fact to her. When she had opened it up, she recognized the handwriting instantly. It was a handwritten book of at least 100 potions, all very complicated and advance.

Seeing that made her wish that she wouldn't have been so stubborn and upset. Clearly the book had taken at least a month or two to work on it. She wanted to thank him, talk to him one more time but hadn't been able to find him.

"No I didn't." Charlotte glanced back out the window but didn't see the man she had been looking for. With a sigh she turned back to her book. The life she had imagined for herself for all these years wasn't going to happen. That was clear now. So the future for her was unclear. She knew that her an Aubrey had planned to get jobs and get a place together. But she wanted more for herself then living with Aubrey for the rest of her life.

She look at Aubrey again who was no complaining to someone about feeling sick and then stuffing a cookie into her mouth.

Charlotte had the passion, the grades and the references to give her a good head start at something great. Something big was coming, she could feel it.

This is when he life would begin.


End file.
